Four West Liberty volleyball seniors earned River Valley Conference honors last month as all-conference teams were announced.
Senior Sophie Buysse concluded her senior season as one of the most well-rounded players in the conference. She tallied 359 digs, 273 kills, and 38 aces.
She was one of the most effective servers in the RVC with an efficiency mark of .942. She ranked third in the conference in serve successes per set (3.7) and serve attempts per set (3.9).
Buysse, who will continue her volleyball career at the University of Northern Iowa in 2025, collected 1,136 kills in her Comet career to go along with 1,460 digs.
Fellow seniors Gabriella Morales and Ava Morrison both made the all-RVC second team.
At libero, Morales played stellar defense all season. She ranked fourth in the conference in digs per set (4.5) and tied for third in total digs (459).
For her career, Morales tallied 1,055 digs, leading the Comets in that category in each of the past two years.
Additionally, in 2024, Morales assisted on 47 points, served 22 aces and got 93.8 percent of her serves in play.
Senior Ava Morrison did a little bit of everything for West Liberty this season. In the counting statistics, she racked up 165 kills, 76 digs, 22 assists, and seven blocks.
She was West Liberty’s second most efficient kill artist, putting points away at a .260 clip.
The Comets’ best offensive weapon this season was senior Kaylee Pelzer who received an honorable mention spot on the all-conference list.
This comes despite Pelzer ranking fifth in the conference in kills per set (3.5) and total kills (320). Pelzer recorded the best kill efficiency mark of any Comet at .319.
She also recorded 93 digs, 34 aces and 16 blocks this season.
The RVC-South Player of the Year was Jovi Evans of Mid-Prairie. She ranked top five in total assists (574), kills (346), kill efficiency (.358) and services aces (54).
Coach of the Year also came from Mid-Prairie. Sherry Evans led the Golden Hawks to a state tournament berth and a 33-8 record overall.
Other members of the RVC-South first team include Mid-Prairie’s Dakota Mitchell, Callie Huber and Harper Pacha, Iowa City Regina’s Addison Bollier and Reese Naeve and Wilton’s Kinsey Drake.
The remaining athletes on the RVC-South second team are the Toft sisters from Durant, Allison and Katelynn, Leah Caffery from Wilton, Caitlin Martin from Iowa City Regina, Paycee Sorgenfrey from Tipton and Maddie Falco from West Branch.
In the RVC-North division, Anamosa’s Sophie Sander and Monticello’s Jayden Kuper won Co-Players of the Year honors.
It was a similar scenario for Coach of the Year — Beckman Catholic’s Todd Troutman and Anamosa’s Tierra Knapper shared the award.
First team members included Anamosa’s Ava Gibbs and Reise Neuhaus, Beckman Catholic’s Alexie Hogan and Miley Manternach, Northeast’s Jordan Tegeler, Cascade’s Addison Franke and Bellevue’s Cydney Tath.
On this year’s RVC-North second team is Beckman Catholic’s Ava Burkle, Katelyn Schmitt and Alli Scherbring, Monticello’s Mya Hansen and Madilynn Kromminga, Bellevue’s Ava Yeaher, Anamosa’s Lola Holub, Cascade’s Molly Roling and Maquoketa’s Hadley Ihrig.
Beckman Catholic and Iowa City Regina represented the River Valley Conference in this year’s Class 2A state tournament.
The Trailblazers are the No. 3 seed and the Regals are the No. 7 seed.
After defeating Wilton in the Class 3A Region 8 championship, Mid-Prairie enters its state tournament bracket as the No. 8 seed.
West Liberty final season statistics
Kills
Kaylee Pelzer, 320; Sophie Buysse, 273; Ava Morrison, 165; Mallory Wulf, 94; Emmee Wiele, 61; Porter Maurer, 40; Emma Yoder, 39; Madi Buysse, 13; Tenley Nixt, 6; Gabriella Morales, 5.
Kill efficiency
Kaylee Pelzer, .319; Ava Morrison, .260; Sophie Buysse, .246; Emma Yoder, .244; Emmee Wiele, .139; Mallory Wulf, .124; Porter Maurer, .123; Madi Buysse, .121; Tenley Nixt, .080; Gabriella Morales, .000.
Assists
Emma Yoder, 833; Gabriella Morales, 47; Ava Morrison, 22; Sophie Buysse, 17; Tenley Nixt, 2; Kaylee Pelzer, 1; Emmee Wiele, 1.
Digs
Gabriella Morales, 459; Sophie Buysse, 359; Tenley Nixt, 262; Emma Yoder, 210; Jayleen Kivi, 177; Kaylee Pelzer, 93; Ava Morrison, 76; Madi Buysse, 31; Mallory Wulf, 28; Emmee Wiele, 12; Porter Maurer, 8.
Blocks
Mallory Wulf, 36; Emmee Wiele, 28; Kaylee Pelzer, 16; Sophie Buysse, 9; Ava Morrison, 7; Tenley Nixt, 1; Emma Yoder, 1; Porter Maurer, 1.
Aces
Sophie Buysse, 38; Kaylee Pelzer, 34; Emma Yoder, 24; Tenley Nixt, 22; Gabriella Morales, 22; Madi Buysse, 13; Porter Maurer, 4.
Serving efficiency
Sophie Buysse, .942; Gabriella Morales, .938; Emmee Wiele, .917; Tenley Nixt, .913; Emma Yoder, .912; Kaylee Pelzer, .907; Ava Morrison, .889; Madi Buysse, .883; Porter Maurer, .800.
Ironwomen
Gabriella Morales, Sophie Buysse, Tenley Nixt and Jayleen Kivi played in all 101 sets for West Liberty during the 2024 season.